Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Medicine - Department of Dermatology and Venereology

Background: Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory autoimmune disease of the skin, characterized by keratinocyte hyper proliferation and resulting in erythematous, scaly plaques. The association of enzymes involved in the final processing of MHC-I ligands with inflammatory diseases was reported and the association of ERAP1 in psoriasis was reported. Objectives: Estimation of level of ERAP1 expression in lesional and non lesional skin of psoriatic patients and healthy controls and its role in pathegenesis of psoriasis. Patients and methods: Twenty-five psoriatic patients and thirty healthy controls were enrolled in this study. All patients were subjected to detailed history and clinical examination to determine severity (PASI score) of psoriasis. Skin biopsies were obtained from all subjects, one from lesional and other from non lesional skin of psoriatic patients and one from the healthy controls. ERAP1 level was measured using PCR technique. Results: Results revealed a higher level of expression of ERAP1 between psoriatic patients and controls regarding tissue lesional and non- lesional ERAP1 level (p values<0.001). Positive corrrelation was detected between psoriatic patients and healthy controls regarding tissue ERAP1 level. In addition, there was statistically significant difference between lesional ERAP1, non-lesional ERAP1 and PASI score (p value<0.001) and positive correlation between lesional and non-lesional ERAP1 level in psoriatic patients and PASI score

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